Theodore r



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THEODORE R. DUNHAM, OF NEWARK, NE\V JERSEY, ASSIGNOR T() THOMAS B. PEDDIE AND JOHN MORRISON, OF SAME PLACE.

TRAVELING-BAG.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 28,036, dated April 24, 1860.

T o all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that' I, THEoDoRn R. DUN- HAM, of Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Railroad or Traveling Bags; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the saine, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure l, is a transverse section of a bag, taken in the line a, m, Fig. 2, with my improvement applied to it. Fig. 2, a side sectional View of ditto. Fig. 3, a detached prospective view of one of the elastic bars of ditto.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several gures.

This invention yrelates to an improvement in that class of railroad or traveling bags which are constructed of two parts connected by a joint, the body or sides of the parts being formed of some textile fabric, thin leather, or other flexible or yielding material. These bags are at present constructed without any supports for the sides or bodies of the parts, and consequently the contents of the bags are liable to be disarranged and soiled by any undue pressure to which they may be subjected; it is difficult also to fill and pack the bags in a proper manner so that the contents will not be soiled. There are bags constructed with frames perfectly inelastic, but these are not generally used for hand bags or those which the traveler keeps by his person, as they cannot, if a trifle too large, be fitted in the rack above his seat in the car, or be compressed beneath the seat. It is essential therefore that the bags have a certain degree of elasticity, and still be sniiiciently rigid to be retained in their normal form, yielding gently to pressure only when necessary or required without disarranging and soiling their contents. To this end I employ elastic or yielding bars of steel or other suitable material fitted within the bag and attached to the inner sides of its two parts in the peculiar manner hereinafter described.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and construct my invention I will proceed to describe it.

A, B, represent the two parts of a rail road or traveling bag, which parts are attached to metal frames a, a, connected at their lower ends by a joint Y), as usual. The sides or bodies of the parts A, B, may be of any suitable textile fabric, thin leather or any of the materials usually employed, and this material may be used separately or be placed over any light substance or foundation to give it a little rigidity. There need be nothing new in the construction of the bag, my invention being applicable to the ones as at present constructed.

C, represents thin fiat bars or strips which are curved in a form corresponding to a transverse section of either of the two parts of the bag, see Fig. 3. These bars or strips may be of steel and secured at their ends by rivets c, to the inner sides of the two parts A, B. Two or more bars may be attached to each part of the bag, two bars however will probably be suliicient. The bars or strips C, are intended to be capable of being turned sidewise, whenever either side of the bag is not filled or is not wanted to be distended. By thus turning the strips, the sides of the bag or either of them will collapse, and the article will occupy less space than before. The sides may be immediately distended, whenever desired, by simply restoring the strips to the position shown in Fig. l. These bars or strips C, possess a sufficient degree of elasticity to allow the parts A, B, to be compressed when subjected to a certain pressure, but they are sufliciently rigid to retain the parts in suitable shape preserving their normal form and thereby preventing the contents of the bag being soiled. The bars or strips may be applied at a small expense to any of the bags in present use. If the bars are constructed of metal they may be covered with any suitable material, and in case of the breaking of a bar a new one may be readily applied, as they are perfectly accessible being attached to the inner sides of the parts, at the outer side of the lining or inner covering.

I wish it to be distinctly understood that I do not claim, constructing rail-road or vided With springs or elastic strips that are 10 traveling bags With a frame so as to form capable of being turned as herein shown and a rigid or inelastic body, for such articles described, so as to distend or not distend the have been made and are in present, but not sides of the bag, as desired, all as set forth. 5 ver General use but Iydto claim as iieW and desire to secure by THEODORE R' DUNHAM Letters Patent, Vitnesses:

As an improved article of manufacture, S. T. WILLCOX, a traveling bag having its interior pro- G. B. JENKINSON. 

